It was Only a Matter of Time
by syntheticxsunshine
Summary: It was only a matter of time before Lily discovered her boyfriend with another girl. But what she hadn't betted on was meeting James Potter along the way. Oneshot, LJ, MWPP era.


**It was only a matter of time**

By SXS

Disclaimer: Harry Potter & all affiliated entities are property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), Scholastic Publishing (US), and/or other owners. This document was not intended for copyright infringement.

* * *

It was only a matter of time. 

It was only a matter of time, Lily Evans knew, before her busyness caught up to her; long nights patrolling the hallways, babysitting first years, and not spending enough time with the ones who needed it the most. It was only a matter of time before her and her boyfriend—now ex-boyfriend—would become more distant from each other. Wallace Davies, after all, wasn't exactly a very patient person. It was only a matter of time that he'd get impatient with Lily's constant duties, the lack of attention he received from her, and her pitiful excuses not to see him.

So, when Lily was patrolling the hallway near McGonagall's classroom, and heard some voices and commotion in a broom closet, she merely assumed it was another wild couple that needed some reprimanding. She stormed towards them, yanked open the door, and immediately wished she hadn't.

It was only a matter of time before she'd catch her boyfriend of a year, Wallace Davies, in a very compromising position with a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, well-built girl. Lily didn't catch either of them doing anything more than intensely gluing their faces together through their lips, but she was sure that if she'd come any later, the effect would've been magnified greatly.

"Lily!" he gasped, instantly taking his hands out from under the girl's shirt. "I can explain!"

"You don't need to," Lily replied shakily, her vision blurred by tears. "I get it, okay? I-I get it and…and I've had it." Lily, who wanted nothing more than for Wallace to just implode on the spot, turned around and ran away, the front of her robes sopping wet with tears.

Lily didn't know where she was going; she couldn't see very well with all the wetness in her eyes, and knew that running downstairs would not lead her back to the common room. She had never lost control like that in front of anyone before, and she didn't know what to think. At least it was midnight, or just about, and she probably wouldn't run into anyone in this state.

She had then promptly run into the last person she'd wanted to see alone, late at night, and bawling her eyes out; James Potter. He had probably been out romping with his Marauder crew, who were both conveniently and unfortunately not with him. Since her head was down, she had run straight into him, and she felt his arms enclose her when he realized who and how teary-eyed she was.

"Whoa, Lily," he breathed, and Lily could feel his chest rising and falling on her neck. "What's wrong?"

"None of y-your business!" spluttered Lily, hoping Filch didn't hear her. She tried to disentangle herself from James Potter, who was looking genuinely concerned, but wouldn't let go. "Get off of me, Potter! You should be g-grateful I'm not giving you a detention f-from being in the halls so late!"

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," James insisted, pulling her close. Lily, even through her sobs, felt the warmth his body gave off. He gave off a scent that was something like a mixture of shaving cream, a bit of cologne, and sweet, like candy. He had probably just returned from raiding Honeydukes.

"Get…off…" she murmured half-heartedly. She had just realized how cold she was, and didn't want to leave from his warm arms—just that. It wasn't as if she would normally want to hug James Potter for an extended period of time, no, it was only because she was cold.

"You cold?" he suggested, as if reading her mind. Without a reply, he slipped out of the robes he was wearing to reveal a green sweater. He pulled it off, and handed it to Lily. "Go ahead, you can borrow it. I've got plenty."

Lily, who had calmed down tremendously, was now feeling a sort of emptiness. She backed up to a wall, slid against it, and sat down, clutching her robes, where her heart was. Her chest ached, but not from any sort of physical strain. She had just thought that Wallace would wait for her, that he'd be okay with how busy she was. After all, they'd been together for about a year…she thought she'd loved him. In fact, she probably did. But there wasn't a way in the world she could change what had happened that night, or what had probably been happening every night for awhile. Before she knew it, Lily was voicing all her disappointments and sadness to James, who had slung a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"I thought…I thought he loved me. I loved him—I mean, I love him…but I can't, after this, no," Lily paid no attention to how incoherent she sounded. She rested her head on James's collarbone, and she felt his finger twirling a lock of her hair.

"Are you talking about Davies?" James asked hesitantly, hoping she wouldn't accuse him of being insensitive and not listening. "I saw him earlier, heading off with some girl…but she was blonde. I hope you don't mind, but I hexed him in the back, and now his teeth probably touch the ground. I doubt he knows the counter-spell."

Despite all the disappointments Lily had just been forced to endure, she smiled. James stared, the corners of his lips tugging upwards as well. Then she spoke again.

"It's just…it's so hard when you love someone, and they don't love you…" she whispered, holding back tears. "Do you know what that's like…?" she asked, and then inwardly smacked herself for asking such a stupid question; for two years now, James Potter had been asking her to go out with him, and she'd always rejected—of course he knew what it was like. James eyed her curiously, and she quickly said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry…of course you do. That was such a stupid question, I…I don't know what I was thinking, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry, it's just fine," he replied, gentle and deep. She leaned against him, closing her eyes. Who knew James Potter could actually be of comfort? If Lily heard that even last year, she would've burst out laughing. But now, as she scooted closer to him, as his hand closed around hers, and his aroma wafted through her senses, she knew she'd been wrong all those years. She heard him speak again.

"It'll only be a matter of time before you move on," he whispered, one of his fingers brushing away a lock of her hair that fell over her face. "But right now, we should probably get back to the common room. I hear someone coming; it's probably Filch." He stood up swiftly, and offered a hand. She took it, and didn't let go until they reached the common room.

It was still dimly lit, and they settled on a couch.

"It's probably time we slept," James suggested, giving her one final hug. Reluctantly, Lily admitted to herself that she didn't want him to let go. They sat there, wrapped in each other's arms, for about ten minutes straight.

"Are you done yet?"

The two looked up, to see Sirius Black leaning elegantly against the wall, staring at them. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt, with striped pajama pants that flashed different colors. He continued, "You've been glued to each other for the past half an hour, it's as if you've been hit by a Permanent Sticking Charm or something," he exaggerated. James got up, to Lily's disappointment, and smacked Sirius lightly on the head.

"We were just about to head up," he proclaimed, clearly tired.

"That's what you said after we got back from raiding—er, I mean, that's what you said when we got back from studying so very hard in the library," Sirius complained. Lily couldn't help but laugh.

"Feeling better, then?" James asked hopefully, smiling at her. Lily nodded, blushing. She had been sure her heart had skipped a beat or two when James had smiled at her. "I'm going to head up with Sirius," he waved at her, "See you tomorrow, Lily."

"Bye James," she replied softly, and he immediately swerved his head back around, grinning widely.

"Did you just call me James?" he gasped excitedly. She couldn't help but smile at his glee.

"No," Sirius responded sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "She just called you Jacob the Amazing Talking Squirrel, because that's definitely your name. Come on, you git! That chocolate is probably melting in your po—" then Sirius caught Lily's eye, and quickly corrected himself, "—t! The chocolate we got in a pot at the _library_, which is where we were tonight, is probably melting, and James and I should probably put a Freezing Charm on it or something. Come _on_!" And with that, James bid her a good night, and the boys headed back up to their room.

Lily sat there, still wearing James's sweater, taking in the scent. She could still feel his arms around her; she could still hear his heartbeat. Without knowing it, she began to imagine her and James, together. He certainly had changed a lot this year and last and really did get a lot more mature. Remus had said that he'd changed to impress her, but she hadn't believed it then. Now, she looked back and should've known it would only be a matter of time before he really stepped up and changed for her.

It would only be a matter of time, Lily knew, before something like this happened between her and James. They had just about every class together, and they had started speaking during mealtimes. But Lily didn't know it would end up in her feeling this way; she felt so…happy. Even though Wallace had betrayed her trust, after James and she had talked, it seemed so distant, so unimportant.

Lily couldn't ignore her quickened heartbeat when he smiled at her, or how comfortable she was when he held her. She knew they probably could've stayed with each other the entire night, if Sirius hadn't interrupted. And the most shocking part about that thought was that she wouldn't have minded. She probably would've preferred it.

It was only a matter of time before Lily Evans would fall for James Potter.


End file.
